Turning a Tow Pig Into a Prized Possession: Part 1

As you can see, there is nothing hidden under my sleeves.” That line may be a mainstay for magicians, but truck lovers don't buy into the smoke and mirrors of marketing hyperbole and false promises. You want a truck that works hard, plays hard, and looks good doing it. For several years, we've used our in-house 2010 Ford F-350 shop dualie behind the scenes to haul parts, tow trailers, and make long trips with projects in tow. The entire time, there was one large problem constantly looming over the driver—it was 100 percent stock. This no-frills, base-model work truck was the perfect tow pig for someone who isn't into customizing trucks. But for custom truck nuts like us, we hated driving the stock dualie and always made sure to wear sunglasses to hide our identities. After some senior management persuasion, we got the green light to make it look more befitting of a Truckin team hauler.

We started with the basics: suspension and wheels/tires. We oftentimes max out the F-350's 15,000-pound tow rating and safety was a must. Wheels and tires may not be at the forefront of your mind when you're thinking of safety, but the only thing between you and the road are the wheels and tires that must support your rig and whatever you're towing/hauling. Weld Racing stepped in to help us out with their new line of forged dualie wheels. With a load rating at 3,500 pounds on a 37-inch-tall tire, these wheels will last the life of the truck and look good doing it. Keeping traction with the road mile after mile is Continental's latest commercial tire, the HSR1. This combo should last 100,000 miles with proper rotation and inflation. To help us clear the new, larger wheels and tires, we added a 2-inch leveling kit with new shocks from Daystar. Easy to install, the leveling kit will give us the extra room needed, without negatively affecting the ride quality or tow rating. To bring down the extra mass, we installed a set of Orange Stuff brake pads from EBC Brakes. With more pad swept contact area and thicker pads, the EBC pads will help reduce heat, shorten stopping distances, and will wear more evenly than the factory brakes.

To freshen up the leading edge of the F-350, we took the initiative to install a solid stainless steel twin mesh grille from Royalty Core. We also swapped out the stock headlights and taillights for upgraded units from Spyder Auto. It took a full day of work to install all of the parts on the F-350, but when the day was over, our dualie was both safer and looking better—a win in anyone's book.